It's All in the Past
by Torchwood456
Summary: The team are summoned to London to help out Torchwood One but when Ianto and Jack meet all the members of Torchwood One they both begin to wish they had stayed in Cardiff. Set pre-Fragments
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, I know – another story but this one has been nagging me since I wrote the Countrycide extract of The Adventures of Ianto Jones. You don't have to read that to understand this story – the stories are just partly linked in a small way. Please read and review. **

Gwen, Jack, Tosh and Owen were in the conference room. Owen was stood at the front by the television screen explaining the mission the team were about to go on. "This is Riverdale School in London," Owen informed the team as Ianto entered the room carrying a tray full of hot coffee, as Ianto started to hand out the mugs of coffee, Owen continued. "There seems to be some kind of alien activity going on within the school though the school seems perfectly normal inside. The children are acting normally and there's nothing suspicious with the staff."

As Ianto handed Jack his mug, Jack interrupted Owen's speech. "Can't Torchwood London deal with it?"

"I thought Torchwood London was finished in the Battle of Canary Wharf," Ianto spoke up, quickly blinking away the memories of the battle. "I've had no reports of them rebuilding Torchwood One again."

"I rebuilt Torchwood London again before you joined here," Owen explained. "I chose the members of the team myself the day after I scavenged the ruins of the original Torchwood. Some of the items I found in the ruins helped me chose the members. I made sure they were members of the original Torchwood London to scare them into keeping the organization secret this time."

"So why can't Torchwood London deal with the problem?" Jack asked again as Ianto sat down, both were clearly interested in the case though both for completely different reasons.

"When I set them up there were five of them however recently two of them died in a Slitheen encounter – two of them are undercover in the school. Tom, the leader of Torchwood London, called me up last night asking for our help – he's finding it difficult organizing the operation on his own. As we haven't had any rift problems for a while I told him I'd go over to help even if no one else went," Owen went through what was happening.

"I don't think it's wise for all of us to go," Gwen reminded everyone. "Something could come through the rift at any moment. We can't leave Cardiff unprotected but Owen can't go alone."

"Thomas Baldwin?" Ianto asked, looking at Owen and pretty much ignoring what Gwen had said. Owen flicked through the files in his hands.

"Err, yep. Baldwin is his surname," Owen confirmed. "Do you know him?" Everyone's attention turned to Ianto who just nodded.

"I worked on the same floor as him," Ianto explained. "We spoke quite a lot." Ianto turned to Jack. "If you don't mind sir, I'd like to go with Owen." Jack didn't answer Ianto, instead Jack stared ahead of him, looking straight at Tosh – thinking. Everyone else kept quiet, not daring to break the silence and watched as Jack continued to look at Tosh. Tosh sat uncomfortably in her chair and the rest of the team felt rather awkward.

"The case seems pretty complicated," Jack finally broke the silence yet his gaze didn't move away from Tosh. "It'd be best if at least four of us went… Tosh, do you think you'll be able to handle things here on your own? You can direct us from the CCTV cameras and you can deal with anything that comes through the rift – if things get too difficult inform us and I'll send some people back to help you." Tosh considered what Jack was saying for a few minutes before agreeing. This was an unusual situation and everyone knew Jack didn't like leaving someone in charge of the hub for more than a day but there was nothing else they could do. "We'll leave in half an hour." Everyone nodded and Ianto stood up.

"I'll go and pack equipment, food and drink," he said before leaving the conference room.

"I'll come and help," Gwen called after Ianto as she stood up and ran after him. Jack stood up and walked towards the door.

"Tosh, come with me," he ordered. "I need to show you a few things." He hurried out of the door and Tosh ran after him – leaving Owen in the conference room alone to tidy the presentation away. Owen turned the television screen off before leaving the room himself.

Ianto and Gwen were in the kitchen packing some food into black rucksacks. "Careful you don't put too much food in. We can go food shopping once we get there," Ianto warned Gwen as he watched her empty a whole cupboard full of food into one of the bags. "And Tosh might get a bit peckish."

"I'm just being cautious Ianto," Gwen replied. "What if we break down in the middle of nowhere?"

"We could walk," Ianto shrugged.

"And we'd need food for energy," Gwen pointed out.

"Good point," Ianto admitted, but was still rather worried when Gwen emptied another cupboard full of food into a different bag. "Are you sure Rhys will be happy with you running off to London so suddenly?"

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Gwen asked playfully, avoiding answering the question.

"Of course not," Ianto smiled. "But just remember you have a life outside of Torchwood."

"How much time are you spending with Jack," Gwen laughed as she zipped up the bag she was holding. "You're turning into him." The pair laughed as they left the kitchen and headed towards the SUV.

It was half an hour after the meeting had ended and Tosh was still with Jack in Jack's office. "Haven't you got to go now Jack?" Tosh asked as she saw Gwen, Owen and Ianto in the main area of the hub all packed and ready to go. Jack glanced up at his clock.

"Oooh, yeah, I do," Jack nodded and looked back at Tosh. "Thanks for reminding me." Jack picked up his coat and hurried to the door. "Now remember don't try to handle anything to big alone."

"I won't Jack!" Tosh smiled. "Now go and enjoy your holiday in London." Jack grinned before turning and running out of the door. Tosh stood alone in the office and watched as Jack led Gwen, Owen and Ianto out of the hub. They were all laughing as they left and for a few moments after they had exited the cog door leaving Tosh alone in the hub, Tosh started to wish she had gone with them. She shook her head reminding herself someone had to look after the hub and she was pretty happy that for once it wasn't her leaving Ianto behind.

The rest of the team were in the car on their way to London. "Aren't we stopping by our flats for clothes and essentials?" Gwen asked as the SUV drove past her road.

"We don't have enough time," Ianto answered as he looked down at his watch. "We need to get to the B&B we're staying in tonight before eight and it's already six." There was a pause before Ianto added. "We're three hours away from the B&B at the moment." The car suddenly sped up and Jack turned to Owen (who was driving).

"That doesn't mean you need to speed up," Jack exclaimed and the car suddenly sped down.

"So you want to spend the night sleeping in the car?" Owen challenged as he slowed the car down to an almost stop after checking if there was a car behind them.

"No need to go this slow," Jack sighed. In the back of the car, Ianto looked down at his watch once again and studied the map in held in his hands.

"If you drive just under the speed limit we should get to the B&B within the time limit," Ianto explained to Owen before setting the map down to his side. The conversation then fell into silence and Jack, Gwen and Ianto spent the time of silence looking out of the window, watching the light outside slowly fade.

After ten minutes of just staring out of the window, Ianto begin to get fed up of the silence. He turned around in his seat away from the window and was about to speak when Gwen beat him to it. "What are the names of the other members of Torchwood London?" Ianto was surprised that Gwen had asked the same question that he had just been about to ask. He had no idea why Gwen wanted to know, she probably wouldn't know any of them. Ianto guessed Gwen just wanted to make conversation.

"I can't remember the rest of them," Owen shrugged, looking back at Gwen for a brief second before turning his attention back to the road. "I can only remember Tom because we kept in contact with each other." Conversation fell again and once they reached the border between Wales and England Ianto couldn't stop thinking about Lisa and the Battle of Canary Wharf. When he lay in bed that night he continued to think about Lisa and the Battle of Canary Wharf – maybe it had been a mistake agreeing to go with the team. If he was going to be haunted by Lisa until he got back to Wales, Ianto knew he wasn't going to have a fun time in London.


	2. Chapter 2

**I know this is a super short chapter and I'm sorry about that – I would prefer it to be longer but it sort of sets the story out. Another chapter should be coming soon though and it should be longer. Please read and review. **

As the night passed slowly, Ianto's thoughts finally moved away from Lisa and the Battle and Canary Wharf and moved to another time in his past when he had stayed awake all night:

_Ianto Jones was seven. It was 11pm one Thursday night. He had been in bed for three hours and had yet found any sleep. The screams and shouts from the room across the hallway crept into his room – it had been happening more and more lately and each time the shouting got worse and worse. The shouting had started an hour and a half ago almost as soon as his older sister had gone to bed. Ianto was scared – he sat up in his bed and brought his knees up to his chin and stared at them muttering to himself trying to convince himself everything was just a very realistic nightmare. It didn't work and Ianto found himself crying – terror shaking through the seven year olds body. As quietly as he could, the seven year old climbed out of bed. He walked across his room and a shaky hand reached out for the door handle. He pulled the door open then pulled it closed behind him once he had stepped out into the hall. He entered his sister's room and stood, leant against the door, looking at her. Rhiannon was lying with a pillow over her head lying facing away from Ianto. She looked as if she was asleep but Ianto knew she wasn't. He had tried her technique many times but it had never worked for him. Even still, Ianto didn't disturb his sister, just looking at her made the seven year old feel safer. Ianto stood leant against the door for five minutes before his sister turned around and saw him. The thirteen year old sat up in her bed looking at her brother who stood, leant against her bedroom door in thin pyjamas. "Ianto, aren't you cold?"_

_Ianto didn't move and he didn't answer the question but he did speak. "I can't sleep," he whimpered. His words could only just be heard over the shouts from their parents. Rhiannon beckoned Ianto over to her bed and for the rest of the night brother and sister sat together listening to screams and shouts but feeling safe in each other's presence. _

Ianto was cut out of his thoughts from the sudden creak of the door – he quickly sat up from where he was lying to see what was coming through the door. He had always worried that his dad would suddenly reappear one night:

_Ianto Jones was nine. He was lying in his sleeping bag too excited to sleep instead he lay listening to the wind blowing across the tent. The day he had just had had been amazing - his dad had taken Ianto and Rhiannon camping for the weekend to give their mum a peaceful weekend. It was now their last night before they would have to travel home and Ianto was looking forward to telling his mum all about the trip. The past two nights had been great – it had been much easier to sleep without all the shouting though it hadn't been as bad as it had been a couple of years ago. Ianto started thinking of the events earlier that day when he and his dad had ganged up on Rhiannon and soaked her with water. Ianto hadn't seen his dad laugh so much for ages but beyond the laughter Ianto could see sorrow but the nine year old had dismissed it not wanting anything to ruin the perfect day he was having. Ianto was disturbed from his thoughts by the sound of a car engine, close to his tent and the screeching of car wheels. The nine year old scrambled out of his sleeping bag and ran out of the tent, eager to know why a car was so close to his tent. As he ran out he met Rhiannon, who was now fifteen years old, guessing she had had the same idea as he had, Ianto turned to look towards the car. It was pretty far away now but somehow Ianto knew his dad was in the car leaving Ianto and Rhiannon in the middle of nowhere. All the two could do was stare after the car until it disappeared beyond the hilltops. _

_For the rest of the night, brother and sister stood huddled together staring towards the hills where the car had disappeared. Neither were bothered by the low temperature and as soon as the sun rose the next morning the two packed up their belongings and left as silently as possible, disappearing beyond the hilltops. _

"Ianto?" Ianto was once again snapped out of his thoughts and he quickly opened his eyes when he heard the sudden voice only breathing a sigh of relief when he saw Jack by the bed.

"Sir!" Ianto jumped out of bed once he had gathered his thoughts.

"Get back into bed Ianto," Jack whispered. "And keep the noise down or you'll wake the whole B&B!" Ianto listened to Jack before quickly nodding and sitting down on the bed.

"What are you doing in here?" Ianto questioned.

"I was coming in to see if you were alright," Jack explained. "You've been very quiet since we left Wales." Ianto looked at the clock by the side of the bed then turned back to Jack.

"At two in the morning?" Ianto pointed out to Jack. "And I've been thinking since we left Wales."

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Jack asked worriedly. "I forget about the time sometimes you see."

"It's fine sir," Ianto smiled as he cut off Jack before he could start rambling on. "Can you leave me to sleep?" Ianto didn't think he was going to sleep that night but he didn't want to talk to Jack all night. For some reason the memories he had hidden many years back were coming back to him and he didn't like it. Ianto needed to think of a way to stop them.


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter is rather long to make up for the last chapter's shortness. I'm pretty sure the next chapter will have quite a bit of action in it! Also, please bear in mind that this story is ignoring what Rhiannon said in Children of Earth and Ianto leaving after their dad died.**

The next day the conversation in the car was quiet again as the team set off on their one hour journey to the new Torchwood London. As they began to get closer and closer to London, Ianto began to recognize the surrounding earlier from the few days after the battle of Canary Wharf. He quickly pushed the thoughts away from his head. It had taken him nearly all night to get rid of all the bad memories – he didn't want them all flooding back but there was something about London. Something that brought all the memories back to him and the closer he got to London the quicker they returned. No matter how much Ianto tried to push them away they continued to return to him.

After what seemed like two hours to Ianto, Owen stopped the car outside what looked like an old school building. "They're inside an old school building?" Ianto asked, studying the building from inside the car. It was a small, tatty old thing that looked as if it was about to fall down. If Torchwood London were keeping aliens inside that building, it wouldn't be long until aliens were roaming the streets of London… again.

"No," Owen scoffed. "Whatever gave you that idea?" Owen turned to look outside the window Ianto was looking out of and studied the old school building himself. "That place is about to fall to pieces. Torchwood London is under the Thames…" Owen smiled as Ianto turned and looked out the window Gwen was sitting by and stared at the Thames. It had been a long time since Ianto had seen the Thames. He started to remember the last time he had. It had been with Lisa… Ianto quickly pushed the memory away as he had done with many others. At least it had been a happy memory that time the only problem was the memory had occurred the day before the Battle of Canary Wharf. "It was my idea." Owen added when he heard Gwen muttering about how it was such a good idea. Jack climbing out of the car was the cue for the rest of the team to follow him. Jack walked up to the edge of the Thames before turning back to Owen.

"So how do we get inside?" Jack asked causing Owen to smile.

"You jump into the water and dive in," Owen answered. When he saw the team's faces he shrugged. "Is there anything wrong with old fashioned swimming?" No one replied instead the team continued to stare at Owen wearing 'do you really think we'd fall for that one' faces. Owen sighed. "Follow me." Owen set off down the path, locking the SUV as he walked. Ianto glanced at Jack who was walking after Owen with Gwen before taking a deep breath and following the team. Owen stopped once again this time facing a statue of a golden bird.

"This better not be another one of your jokes," Gwen warned Owen as Ianto joined the group by the statue.

"What's going on?" Ianto asked.

"Owen says we have to go inside the statue," Gwen scoffed. Ianto looked from Gwen to Jack then to Owen. "How are we meant to do that? Believe it or not Owen - we're not ghosts!"

"Just wait here," Owen ordered before walking around the other side of the statue suddenly there was a creak and the wings of the bird began to open revealing a doorway under one of the wings. Jack, Ianto and Gwen stood staring at the bird as Owen returned to the group.

"Please tell me there's a perception filter on this thing," Jack managed to speak though he continued to stare in amazement at the bird.

"Come on," Owen led the team on, ignoring Jack's question but from what Jack could see there was a perception filter on the bird as people were giving them odd looks for staring at a statue for so long. Owen led the team into the doorway which went straight into a lift. It was a very small lift and the team had to squeeze together to fit into it.

"This isn't designed very well," Jack shot at Owen from where he was squashed against one of the walls to the lift.

"We're inside a golden bird," Owen pointed out; his voice rather aggravated from what Jack could here. "It's not exactly going to be big is it?" Jack didn't reply so Owen continued. "Ianto there's a button by your left hand can you press that… quickly?" Ianto searched around hurriedly with his hand trying as hard as he could to find the button. He couldn't look for it with his eyes as his head was pushed against Jack's shoulder. When Ianto finally found the button he would have jumped up in joy but he couldn't do that from the position he was in, instead he hit the button as fast as he could and hoped the lift would get them to Torchwood London's main room as fast as possible.

After what seemed like an hour to Owen, Jack, Ianto and Gwen, the lift finally reached the floor they wanted and the team feel out of the lift into a much bigger space, landing in a heap on the floor. "That's a record! We could only ever fit three people in that lift though we never fell over when we exited the lift," a sudden voice made most of the team jump. When Ianto lifted his head up from where he was lying on the floor all he could see was smart black shoes. He quickly got up to his feet just as the rest of the team did the same and looked at the man who had just spoken: Thomas Baldwin. Ianto stared at him – he couldn't believe he was facing someone else who had been part of the Battle of Canary Wharf. He started to remember first meeting Tom and this time he couldn't push the memory away:

_Ianto Jones was 23. He was stood in the same clothes he would later fight Myfawny with Jack and stood in his new workspace: Torchwood London. He looked around and was almost dazzled by the whiteness of the building. He was stood in reception after being told to wait for the boss to arrive and take him to the floor he'll be working on. Ianto was nervous. This job was one of his first in a big organization with his last job being in a corner shop. Ianto watched as a woman walked over to him. "Are you Ianto Jones?" The woman asked sharply as soon as she was standing facing Ianto. Ianto just nodded. "I'm Yvonne Hartman – your boss. Your desk is this way." She turned and led Ianto towards a flight of stairs and continued to talk as she walked. "You will be a Junior Researcher within Torchwood London. If you need anything just go to Thomas Baldwin. His desk will be at the front of the room you'll be working in. I hope I will not have to remind you that you have signed the official secrets act so anything you see or research within Torchwood London shall not be spoken about outside the building – understand?" Yvonne turned on Ianto as she suddenly stopped by a door. Once again Ianto nodded only this time because he was out of breath from the number of stairs he had just climbed. Yvonne turned and pushed open the door and walked in. Ianto followed slowly and looked around the massive room filled with light brown desks with each workstation owning one computer and a telephone. Ianto turned his attention back to Yvonne who was muttering to a man who Ianto guessed was about five years older than he was. Suddenly Yvonne turned and stalked out of the room leaving Ianto standing, unsure of what he was meant to be doing and where he was meant to be sitting. Ianto watched silently as the man Yvonne had been talking to began to walk over to Ianto. _

"_I take it your Ianto Jones?" The man asked once he had reached Ianto. Once again Ianto nodded. "I'm Thomas Baldwin the supervisor of this… division. Just call me Tom." Tom held his hand out for Ianto to take and almost too quickly Ianto took it. "You'll be sitting over there," Tom pointed over to a desk that Ianto could clearly see was not owned. Unlike the other desks in the room the desk Tom was indicating had no signs of life – no pictures of worthless junk was piled up on the desk. "This piece of paper has your username and password on it though if I were you I'd change the password as soon as possible. It's the password set up for all new accounts. The paper has some other details about your job so I'd keep it somewhere safe for the first week at least." Tom smiled at Ianto as he handed the paper with all Ianto's details on across to Ianto. _

"_Thank you," Ianto thanked Tom as he took the piece of paper and began to walk across to his new desk._

"_Come to me if you need anything," Tom called after him._

_And that's exactly what Ianto did for his first few weeks. He was constantly asking Tom for things and they had become rather good friends but after Ianto had been working in Torchwood London for four months a new girl: Lisa Hallett had arrived and Ianto and Tom's friendship grew apart as Ianto spent most of his time talking to Lisa. They had still spoken from time to time but never for as long as Tom had wanted._

"Ianto Jones!" Tom exclaimed. "I haven't seen you for a while! You disappeared not long after the Battle." Ianto smiled.

"Hey Tom," Ianto greeted his old friend. "How are you?" Tom looked around the main room of Torchwood London. Ianto followed his gaze; the entire place was a mess and needed desperate clearing up.

"It's been really hectic around here," Tom explained as Ianto stared at the mess. "I've been too busy watching over my teammates to tidy up. It's a relief that you guys turned up though I never knew you worked for Torchwood Cardiff. Owen never mentioned you."

"I only joined 21 months ago," Ianto told Tom.

"So, how's Lisa?" Tom asked. He didn't know that Lisa had died when he had met up with Ianto just after the battle Ianto had lied about Lisa's state:

_Ianto was 24. The Battle of Canary Wharf was now finally over and Ianto had managed to get Lisa to his car. He reached into his pocket to pull out his car keys and suddenly remembered he had hurriedly given them to Tom as he had run to find Lisa. He now hoped that Tom wasn't dead as he ran backed to the Torchwood skyscraper, which had now burnt down, alone, hoping no one would come across Lisa. When he got to the rubble of the skyscraper he didn't have to look around for long as Tom was talking to two people: a woman and a man though they didn't look like police officers. Ianto ran over. "Tom," Ianto began to speak but Tom cut him off._

"_Ianto, I'll be with you in one second I need to talk to these people," Tom told Ianto quickly. Ianto turned to the people Tom had been talking to._

"_If you don't mind me asking, who are you two?" Ianto asked the pair curiously._

"_Owen Harper," the man spoke before indicating to the woman. "And this is Suzie Costello. We're from Torchwood Cardiff. We'll leave you two to talk." Owen walked past Ianto and Tom, heading towards the rubble with Suzie following close behind him. Tom and Ianto turned and watched as the two began to search through the rubble. Ianto frowned – were they looking for survivors or the technology Torchwood London had had. Ianto turned back to Tom._

"_Can I have my car keys back?" Ianto asked quickly, after remembering he had left Lisa by the car. _

"_Oh sure," Tom nodded and began to fumble around in his pocket – obviously searching for the keys. He pulled them out and handed them to Ianto. "How's Lisa?"_

"_She's fine," Ianto lied. He knew Lisa had a chance of survival and if she didn't survive it would be very difficult to explain how a supposedly dead woman was walking around. "Just shocked. Goodbye Tom." Ianto turned and ran off back the way he had come._

Ianto swallowed as he brought himself to say the word. "Dead," he managed to whisper.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Tom apologized. The conversation fell and awkwardness was put in its place. Owen stepped forwards.

"So what's the information on the mission?" Owen asked, changing the subject as quickly as he could though he knew he hadn't been quick enough. Tom turned and ran to his computer to bring up the facts, grateful that someone had managed to change the conversation topic.

"I have two team mates undercover in the school at the moment," Tom explained as Ianto began to clear up the main room as quietly as he always did. "Unfortunately they haven't managed to find anything. As I told you over the phone the teachers aren't acting strangely and there is nothing up with the students but it makes no sense. No matter how many times I restart the computer systems it stills says there's something alien in the school but whenever I try to find out what or even try to hack into the website the system crashes." Tom looked up at the rest of the team. "School websites are usually really easy to hack – I think some of these teachers deserve an award. They're certainly good actors." Tom paused before he continued speaking. "My team mates aren't trained for undercover work. They need help. I was thinking one of you lot could go in. At the moment the school are looking for a History teacher." As soon as the words were out of Tom's mouth, Owen, Gwen and Jack all turned to look at Ianto. Ianto continued to tidy up for a moment before he felt everyone staring at him and looked up.

"What?" His eyes widened in horror. "No way. I'm sorry Tom." Ianto looked from Tom to Jack. "Sir, there's no way I'm going undercover as a History teacher."


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you to Ianto'sCoffeeMinion, .397 and PCJanto for replying. As in 'The Adventures of Ianto Jones' all Tosh and Ianto moments are friendship not anything else. Thanks for reading and please review.**

Ianto sat in Torchwood London's conference room with the rest of the team. The room was very different to the conference room he was used to back in Wales and the situation he was in was definitely different to the situations he was used to. After ten minutes of going round in circles, the team were still trying to get him to go undercover and no matter how many times Ianto refused and reminded them he didn't go undercover they still remained aliquant that Ianto was going to agree to go undercover as a History teacher. The truth was if it had been any other subject then Ianto would have been more than happy to go in:

_Ianto Jones was fourteen. For the past five years, Ianto had been living with his sister as after the pair had managed to find their way back home they arrived back to the news their mother had vanished. Rhiannon had managed to convince the police officers to let her look after Ianto as she would be turning sixteen in just over a week so Rhiannon had taken on the task of caring and looking after Ianto like the mother she had never had. Somehow Rhiannon had managed to live with a year of school work and look after Ianto at the same time and now had a job in a nursery. _

_The fourteen year old was sat in a History lesson staring up at the teacher in fascination. He had always loved History and found learning about how people lived in the past interesting. Ianto's attention turned away from the teacher as the door opened and his headteacher walked in asking for him. Ianto got to his feet, ignoring the strange sounds his classmates were making. He knew he wasn't in trouble as he had always been careful not to make Rhiannon's life any harder than it already was for her. He followed his headteacher round a corner and onto a staircase before his headteacher turned around and gave Ianto the news he had been waiting to hear for the past five years. "The police have found your mother," his headteacher spoke in almost a whisper. Ianto's heart pounded at the thought of seeing his mother again after so many years – he started to wonder how much she had changed or why she had left in the first place then he remembered one tiny detail._

"_I thought they had abandoned the case," Ianto frowned._

"_They had but at 9:15 this morning they found her," his headteacher paused and took a deep breath before finishing his sentence. "Dead." All Ianto could do was stare in horror._

_Now whenever he thinks of History he is always reminded of that terrible day._

"Ianto?" Ianto was brought back to present day by Jack calling his name. He lifted his head up to see everyone staring at him, waiting for his answer.

"For the last time – no," Ianto snapped before standing up and storming out of the room. The team stared after him and even Owen was speechless for once. There were at least three minutes of silence before anyone dared to break the awkward silence.

"That's not like Ianto," Tosh breathed who was involved in the conversation from the video link the team had set up when they moved the conversation to the conference room.

"Nope," Owen agreed. At that point of time the small word was the only thing he could get out.

"I'll go and talk to him," Jack stood up after getting over the small shock. Over the 21 months Ianto had worked for him Jack had never seen him that cross even after the Cyberwoman situation.

"Let me talk to him," Tosh said from the computer screen. Jack was silent for a few moments, thinking carefully before nodding to Tosh, giving her his permission. Tosh turned off her video link.

-TW-

Ianto sat in one of the corridors of Torchwood London he sat against the wall with his head in his hands furiously blinking away tears. He had left all those memories away ages ago. Why were they returning to him now? "Ianto?" Ianto looked up when he heard Tosh's voice over the com link. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath before speaking as calmly as he could.

"Yes Tosh?" Ianto asked as he studied the wall he was looking at trying to forget all the memories that had returned to him.

"Are you okay?" Tosh questioned Ianto. Ianto recognized the caring tone from when she had sat with him after Lisa had died.

"I'm fine," Ianto lied as he continued to fight back tears.

"You don't sound like you're okay," Ianto smiled – he couldn't lead Tosh down the wrong path. Ianto remained silent. "Come on Ianto. Tell me what's up. I won't tell the others unless you want me too."

"They won't leave me alone," Ianto gave in and spluttered out the short sentence.

"Oh, do you want me to leave you alone?" Tosh asked.

"No," Ianto shook his head even though he knew Tosh couldn't see him. "The memories. They won't leave me alone." The words were becoming easier for Ianto to get out now. "Ever since we entered England the memories won't leave me. All the memories I managed to forget after I left Torchwood London with Lisa have come flooding back to me. The horrible memories – the deaths, the shouting – my childhood. They won't go away." Ianto paused for a second before continuing. "I like the thought of going undercover in a school. Really – I do. I used to love History as a kid. I loved it until I was fourteen. I was taken out of a History lesson by my headteacher to be told my mum had died." Ianto gave up with fighting the tears and let them out at the thought of his mum. He reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a picture. It was the only good picture he had of his family and he carried it with him everywhere. He was around six years old and Rhiannon was twelve. They were on a beach stood around a big sandcastle which had taken them most of the day to make. Ianto stared down at the picture as tears rolled down his face.

"I'm so sorry Ianto," Tosh spoke quietly through Ianto's earpiece.

"It's not your fault," Ianto put the picture back in his pocket and composed himself.

"I'm not trying to force you to do anything you don't want to do but if you do agree to go undercover in the school do it for her," Tosh spoke. "If she can see you from wherever she is I'm pretty certain she'll be proud of you. Think about it Ianto, you're saving the world almost every day."

"Thank you Tosh," Ianto smiled as he stood up. "Tell Jack I'll do it."

"Okay Ianto," Tosh agreed. "But only if you're sure."

"I'm sure," Ianto spoke as he made his way back towards the main room. "But don't tell him about what I've said to you. If he ever finds out – I want to tell him myself."

"I understand Ianto. Good luck!" Tosh turned the connection off as Ianto began to walk up the stairs that led to the main room. He stopped outside the door and took a deep breath before walking into the main room to be met by the team working hard – Tom was sat at the computer with the rest of the team circled round him. As the door banged shut behind Ianto, Jack looked up.

"Thanks for doing this," Jack smiled.

"It's no problem," Ianto returned Jack's smile as he reached the computer the team were huddled round.

"So this is what you need to do…" Ianto listened carefully as the team began to explain the mission.

-TW-

The next day Ianto stood outside a big building and looked up at it. He noticed a sign reading the name of the school he would be going undercover in. "Ianto Jones?" Ianto jumped and span round to see a young woman around his age looking at him.

"That's me," Ianto nodded.

"I'm Alis Bevon," the woman smiled. "Field agent for Torchwood London. I gather you're from Torchwood Cardiff." Ianto nodded and started to think about the name.

"Which floor did you work on?" Ianto asked.

"Sorry, I don't understand what you're asking me," Alis replied.

"Um… in the old Torchwood London which floor did you work on?" Ianto explained his question.

"Twenty one or something like that," Alis shrugged. "Why?"

"I used to work there," Ianto explained. "Before the battle. I just wondered if I had seen you there at all. I worked on the same floor as Tom."

"Fascinating," Alis muttered. "Now can we get back to the matter at hand?"

"Of course," Ianto smiled.

"Follow me," Alis smiled and led Ianto into the school building. "I take you to the staffroom to meet the members of staff hopefully our other field agent should be in here." Alis opened a door and led Ianto into what looked like a staffroom. "I can only point him out to you though. So we don't seem too suspicious we pretend not to get on. Obviously we do. We have to as a team though he is a bit of a weird chap though don't tell him I said that!" As she had been talking, she had been searching the room for him and turned to Ianto when she found him. "There he is – the one leaning against that bookshelf by the computers." Ianto looked over to the computers and scanned across to the bookshelf. Sure enough a man was leant against the bookshelf talking to one of the teachers. Ianto was rather surprised when he saw him. The man looked around his fifties and Ianto could understand why Alis had called him weird. Something about the man made Ianto feel uncomfortable. "His name is Aaron Jones." Ianto stared at the man. He knew he had recognized the man very slightly but he didn't expect that. Ianto suddenly felt very faint and fell back against the desk behind him. He was aware of his breathing becoming heavier but he wasn't too concerned about that at the moment. Ianto hit the com link in his ear, which the team had told him to call a hearing aid if anyone asked him why he was wearing it, and quickly spoke into it.

"Jack, I don't care what you have to do, just get me out of here," Ianto spoke as quickly as he could. He needed to get out of the room as quickly as he could before Aaron saw him.

"Why?" Jack asked through the coms. "We need to find out what these aliens are."

"I'll leave myself then," Ianto turned and ran out of the staffroom. He was thankful his legs were working though he couldn't feel them as he was going down a corridor, he knew they were working.

"Ianto," it was Tosh's voice coming through the coms this time. "Calm down. What's the matter?" Ianto continued to run and braced himself to say the words he didn't think he was ever going to say again.

"It's my dad," he said.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favourited, followed, read etc. this story. This chapter is a bit different to how I had planned it mainly because I had a sudden idea a few words into writing it. I know this chapter is short but the ending of this chapter just works. Anyway please read and review!**

"What?" Ianto easily recognized Owen's voice from his com link. Ianto skidded round a corner into another corridor. He had no idea where he was but at that time he didn't care. He just needed to get away from everyone.

"Are you deaf Owen?" Ianto growled as he finally came across the reception. He didn't stop running until he was outside the school building and sat down on a bench to catch his breath while keeping one eye on the school in case Alis decided to run after him. Ianto just wanted to be on his own and process everything that had just happened and decide what to do.

"Get back in there," Jack's sudden order surprised Ianto. Of all the ways Ianto thought Jack would have reacted that one had been right at the bottom of the list.

Under the Thames everyone was staring at Jack at his sudden order. "What?" Gwen protested staring at Jack in horror and Tom started typing at his computer to turn the com links off.

"We need to find out what alien is in there," Jack explained in a vicious tone though in his eyes Gwen could see panic and worry as if Jack was hiding yet another secret.

"You can't just send him back in there," Gwen began to yell, ignoring the hidden panic she could see in Jack's eyes. "He's terrified."

"I'm with Gwen," Gwen looked up at Owen in surprise as he defended Ianto for the first time in the two years Gwen had been working with the team for.

"Me too," Tosh agreed through the video link and Gwen noticed a hint of fear in Tosh's voice. Was she hiding something too? Everyone's attention turned to Tom who had sat listening to the conversation from the computer he was sat on. Tom sighed and looked from Gwen and Owen to Jack.

"I'm sorry Jack but I'm with Gwen," Tom decided. "Yes we need to focus on the mission but we can only do so if our team members can work together and at this moment in time I can't see Aaron and Ianto being able to work together until they've managed to settle their differences and spoken to each other."

"What do you suggest we do?" Jack asked, even though he didn't want Ianto and Aaron to talk he didn't seem to have much choice.

"Bring them all back here," Gwen shrugged. "However I think Ianto should get to choose whether he wants to talk to Aaron or not." Jack nodded and turned to Tom.

"Tell Alis to bring Ianto back here," Jack ordered as he grabbed his coat. "I'll pick Aaron up." Tom nodded and turned the com links back on. Jack grabbed the SUV keys and ran out of the room before anyone could argue with him.

"Alis, I want you to find Ianto and bring him back here. I think he's outside the reception," Tom ordered. "Aaron I need you to go to the car park and wait for a black SUV. A man called Jack Harkness will be bringing you back understand."

"What's going on?" Aaron asked.

"I'll inform you when you get back here," Tom answered.

-TW-

Aaron Jones stood in the car park to the school as he waited for this Jack Harkness to arrive and take him to Torchwood London. As he waited he started to think more about the name. "Jack Harkness," he muttered under his breath. He recognized the name but couldn't remember where he had heard it before. A black SUV pulled up into the car park and Aaron watched as it parked and a man got out of the car. Aaron's mouth fell open as the man began to walk towards him wearing a long military coat – this was Jack Harkness and Aaron remembered him.

"Aaron Jones?" Jack asked.

"It's you," Aaron whispered as he stared at Jack. "It's you."

"Ianto Jones is back in Torchwood London waiting to talk to you," Jack began to explain. "He's probably going to ask all sorts of questions. The most likely one will be why you left him. I don't care what you tell him as long as you don't mention my name. Everything that happened back when he was a kid between me and you will not be revelled to Ianto. Do you understand me?" Jack didn't like giving threats like that but he didn't want to lose Ianto and if Ianto ever found out the truth about why his father had left him in the middle of nowhere, Jack knew he would lose Ianto.

"You expect me to lie to him?" Aaron exclaimed. "After being forced to leave him as a kid. Not being able to see him grow up? He's going to think I'm the bad guy but I had had no choice and you want me to tell him I wanted to leave him?" Jack stared at Aaron emotionlessly and Aaron had no idea what the man in front of him was thinking.

"Yes," Jack spat before turning and getting back into his car. Aaron stared after the man before following him into the car and slamming the passenger door shut.

"And if I refuse to lie to him?" Aaron asked though he was pretty certain he knew what the reply would be but he needed to know for sure.

"You know what happened last time you refused," Jack turned to look at Aaron. Jack regretted everything he had done in the past. He hadn't been thinking properly and now it was all being brought back to the surface again and he was risking losing Ianto though as Jack spoke he continued to show no emotion. He showed no regret and he showed no hatred. "You were forced to watch your wife die in front of you. Do you really want to watch your son and daughter die?" Aaron didn't reply and Jack could tell Aaron wasn't going to risk Ianto or Rhiannon's lives so he turned the key and drove the car back towards Torchwood London.


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, the story about how Jack made Aaron leave Ianto isn't that bad because I didn't want to make Jack a really bad character but I think it's enough for Jack to beat himself up about and even thought it was only partly his fault he'd still be given most of the blame. Please read and review.**

As Jack continued to drive back to Torchwood London the presence of Aaron being in the car made him nervous as the memories of what he had done back when Ianto was just a kid wouldn't leave him.

_It was 1992. Jack was stood in an alleyway waiting for someone. He didn't know who but he had been contacted by a stranger to meet them at the address he was at. Jack was almost blinded by headlights when a jeep drove down the alleyway and stopped suddenly in front of him. Jack watched silently as a woman climbed out and walked over to him. "You came," she spoke calmly as she walked closer to him._

"_I'm always intrigued by an anonymous letter," Jack returned the calm tone as the woman final reached the area he was standing in. The two studied each other for a minute before Jack got bored. "So what did you contact me for?" _

"_I heard you were familiar with aliens and good with torture," Jack noted the woman smiled for the first time since they had met._

"_So?" Jack questioned. The woman nodded and the driver of the jeep appeared at her side carrying a file. The woman took the file and the driver returned to the jeep._

"_This man," the woman handed Jack the file she had recently been given. Jack held it in his hands but didn't look inside. "Is known to be meeting aliens and bargaining with them." Jack scoffed at the thought._

"_And you've proven this," Jack was pretty sure Torchwood weren't getting any reports of aliens coming through the rift. The ones that had had been found easily and were in the Torchwood facility._

"_Not completely," the woman admitted. "But we've seen the creatures he's supposedly talking to and they can kill. If these aliens get down to earth they will wipe out the whole human race." Jack couldn't help but laugh._

"_And you know all this for a fact," Jack questioned. All the information he had been given so far sounded completely untrue. The woman didn't reply and Jack took the moment to look through the file. The first picture was of a thirty five year old man called Aaron Jones as Jack skimmed through the file he found out he had a wife and two young kids. "What do you want me to do?"_

"_Bring them all to me," the woman answered simply._

"_Then what?" Jack asked quickly. He wanted to know what she intended to do to the family of four._

"_You'll help me torture Mr Jones until he tells us where the aliens he's talking to are," the woman replied._

"_What if he's innocent? What about his family?" Jack questioned._

"_You managed to give up twelve children in 1965 no questions asked but now you can't even give up four people?" The woman ignored Jack's questions and asked her own._

"_How do you know about that?" Jack asked._

"_Files," The woman replied with a shrug._

"_I've changed since then," Jack explained. "Now what will you do to his family?"_

"_That's none of your concern," the woman replied. Jack thought carefully._

"_Not the children," he finally decided._

"_What?" The woman said._

"_I'll give you the parents but not the children," Jack repeated._

"_Fine," the woman turned and walked back to her jeep. Just before she got into the jeep she turned back to Jack. "Bring them hear this time Monday night." Jack watched as the jeep turned and drove away. He had three days._

"I'm sorry," Jack sighed as he looked at Aaron. "If I could change things I really would." Aaron turned to look at Jack.

"So you wouldn't run into my house and scare my kids at one in the morning?" Aaron questioned.

_Jack stood outside the Jones' family house late on Friday night. He had been watching them in through the window for most of the day. They looked like any normal family even if Aaron and his wife did argue more than necessary. Jack didn't believe the man was meeting up with aliens in his spare time but he had agreed to take him to the woman and he knew if he didn't do as she had asked the woman would just hire someone else and take the kids at the same time. Jack walked up to the house and pulled out his gun. As quietly as he could he forced the door open and made his way up the stairs. Apparently he hadn't been quiet enough as a young nine year old boy was stood at the top of the stairs watching him. "There's a man in the house with a gun," the boy screamed before Jack could stop him. The house burst into action and soon the boy was joined by his sister and his parents. _

"_I don't mean any harm," Jack tried to explain._

"_Then why did you sneak into my house in the middle of the night with a gun?" Aaron questioned. "Are who on earth are you."_

"_Aaron Jones, I need to talk to you and your wife," Jack explained, putting his gun in his pocket. "Alone."_

"_Whatever you want to say can be said in front of my kids," Aaron snapped. _

"_Okay, okay whatever you want," Jack agreed, not wanting to annoy the man any more. "I need to take you and your wife away from your kids."_

"_What?" Aaron exclaimed. "We haven't done anything to them! We're treating them normally. You're not social services!" Jack looked towards the children. The boy had huddled against his fifteen year old sister. Jack could tell he was scared. His sister just looked shocked._

"_Look these people sort of hired me and gave me this rubbish about you meeting aliens," Jack explained as quickly as he could. "They want your whole family. I don't know why but I've managed to let your kids go free. If I don't manage to get you to them then they'll hire someone else. Someone who will take your whole family." Jack looked at the small family huddled around at the top of the stairs. "I really wish I wasn't in this situation, honestly." Jack pulled two pills out of his pocket. "These pills will make your children forget this ever happened. You can have one more great, brilliant weekend with them. Take them camping then leave them in the middle of nowhere and come with me and your kids will be safe."_

"_You want me to randomly abandon my kids?" Aaron exclaimed. "They'll think I'm the bad one."_

"_It's either that or you take them with you and they'll most likely be killed," Jack sighed handing Aaron the pills. "It's your choice. I'll see you on Monday night. With or without the kids." Jack turned and left the Jones' house. _

"Don't you see?" Jack asked Aaron as they pulled up outside the river Thames. "I saved your children. I saved Ianto and Rhiannon."

"But murdered my wife," Aaron growled.

"I'm sorry," Jack apologized again.

"I want to see my son," Aaron ignored Jack's apologized and went to open the door but Jack locked the door.

"I need to know you're not going to tell him," Jack told Aaron. "I won't kill Rhiannon or Ianto if you do – I'm not that kind of person any more. There's just one thing you need to remember. When the woman let you go you went to Torchwood London and worked on the floor above Ianto for years. You knew he was there. You could have spoken to him then. Showed him you were alive but you didn't. You let him come to Cardiff. He came and asked me for a job and guess what – I recognized him. I could never forget that young boy's terrified face and when I thought about how I had dragged him away from you I refused to give him a job. I thought I would let you get in contact with him first because I knew you could. Then I realised you could have. You had years to speak to him so I gave him the job and I cared for him. I loved and cared for him when you couldn't be bothered to even face him. To even talk to him. To show him it wasn't you who decided to leave him. That's why I'm not giving you the choice to tell him the choice today because if we hadn't come to London you would never have met him." Aaron stared at Jack as Jack went through his rant. "What I'm saying is Ianto is happy with me. We both broke his heart all those years ago. Do you really want to break his heart again?" Aaron stared out at the Thames for a few moments after Jack had finished his speech.

"No," Aaron decided.

"Thank you," Jack muttered. "Thank you so much."

"Just let me see my son," Aaron glared at Jack.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you for reviewing, favourting and following! Please read and review!**

Ianto stood in the conference room of Torchwood London. Owen had advised him to sit down to help him recover from the shock but Ianto was too nervous to sit down. He began to pace, wondering what was taking Jack and Aaron so long. He and Alis had returned a quarter of an hour ago. Surely Jack and Aaron should have returned by now. Ianto took a deep breath when he heard Jack's voice from the corridor outside the conference room. He had all sorts of questions flying around his head. Questions that he had wanted answers for since he was a child. So why, now that he had someone to answer these questions, did Ianto feel like he wanted to hide? Ianto stopped pacing when the conference door opened and kept quiet as Aaron and Jack entered the room. Aaron looked different to how Ianto had always pictured him to look like. He looked calmer than Ianto had pictured him to be and Ianto could see regret in the older man's eyes. This made Ianto feel braver especially when Aaron sat down in one of the chairs so Ianto didn't mind when Jack left the room and left him on his own with Aaron. There were more moments of silence after Jack had left and Ianto stood rooted to the spot, staring at Aaron. "You can sit down you know?" Although Aaron's statement had been a suggestion rather than an order, Ianto quickly sat down on the chair closest to him but continued to stare at Aaron who was sat on the opposite side of the table to him. "Are you just going to stare at me?" Aaron frowned.

"Oh, erm, sorry," Ianto apologize as soon as he could. "You just look… different to how I pictured you."

"I can say the same about you," Aaron smiled, causing Ianto to return the smile too. All the hatred Ianto had felt towards Aaron had suddenly disappeared but it would soon be back. "What happened to the small and timid Ianto?"

"The one you left in the middle of nowhere?" Ianto anger suddenly returned and the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. The memories of that long, horrible night returned to Ianto once again but this time he didn't push them away.

"I wish I could explain that properly to you," Aaron sighed and Ianto saw him pull a white envelope out of his pocket. "I really wish I could." Aaron stood up and began to move closer to Ianto who also stood up. Ianto didn't move however and instead he stood and waited for Aaron to reach him. "I wrote this after your mother had… died. I've carried it with me every day in case I happened to come across you or Rhiannon." Aaron stopped in front of Ianto. "I want you to have it." Aaron held out the envelope for Ianto to take. Ianto stared at the envelope for a second, studying it before taking it. "Read it when you're alone. It'll make more sense." Aaron turned and walked back towards the door. "We'll talk again when you've read it." Ianto watched as Aaron disappeared out of view and looked down at the envelope. He walked over to the door, just as Aaron had done however instead of leaving the room he locked the door so no one could disturbed him while he read the letter. Ianto turned around and walked back to where he had been sitting before. He sat down and began to open the envelope. It was more difficult to open the envelope than Ianto had expected it to be as his hands had shook through the whole process and Aaron had made it extra difficult for him by folding the paper in half.

When Ianto had finally managed to open the letter he looked down at the paper. Aaron's handwriting was considerably neater than Ianto had expected it to be. Once again, Ianto took a deep breath before he began to read:

_To my beloved Ianto/Rhiannon,_

_You both probably hate me at this moment but first off what you need to understand is leaving you both was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Please believe me when I say I wouldn't have done it if it wasn't best for you. _

_I had borrowed money, you see. I needed it to pay for that holiday we went on to France… six years ago now. When we returned from that holiday we had spent all the money we had with barely anymore left. I couldn't repay them and it turned out they weren't any normal loan sharks either – I really should have looked into it more before I had borrowed the money. One night they sent a man to our house to bring us all to them. It turns out they had aliens in their custody and they wanted to use us and preform tests us on and the aliens… the man let me save you two. _

_You're probably wondering how your mother died now (if you even know she is dead). You probably suspect it was the tests too but in actual fact they never had the chance to perform any tests on us. We managed to escape one year after they had taken us (they didn't need us until the man they were using had died) but they continued to look for us. They didn't want us to tell anyone what we had seen so they shot her dead – I had to leave her there because I wanted to find you two so we could be a family again._

_I had no such luck and now three years later I'm working in London. So I'm currently working in an organisation called Torchwood London who found me and helped me get back onto my feet. They told me not to mention the aliens I saw to anyone but you two deserve the choice after everything you've been through so if you receive this letter it probably means I've either seen you in the street but haven't had the guts to talk to you or I've found out where you live but haven't had the guts to talk to you. So if you're reading this please come and see me in Torchwood London – I'm working on floor 14 by the way._

_I hope you can understand why I left you both now. It was for your own protection. I hope to see you both again sometime soon when I find the guts to talk to you both._

_Lots of love,  
Dad._

Ianto stared at the letter in disbelief. He remembered that holiday in France perfectly but he could never have guessed Aaron had borrowed money to get them all there. Everything Aaron had gone through made Ianto feel sorry for him. He remembered how scared and amazed he had been the first time he had seen an alien but couldn't imagine how he would feel if he had known Torchwood London had wanted to perform tests on him and an alien. The next thing Ianto couldn't believe was that Aaron had worked on the floor above him for the years Ianto had worked in Torchwood London for and Ianto had never seen him. Had Aaron ever seen him?

Ianto sighed and folded the paper back up and placing the letter carefully back into its envelope ready to give to Rhiannon the next time he saw her. Perhaps Aaron would be with him then. Not that they'd be a proper family again – there would have to be a lot more discussions before they even go to that conclusion. As Ianto went to put the envelope into his suit pocket, something on the back of the envelope caught his eye. When he turned the envelope over he realised it was writing. It was scruffier than the writing on the letter he had read but Ianto could see that Aaron had written it too. Ianto could also tell Aaron had written it in a hurry but this made sense to Ianto when he read the sentence:

_The man's name was Captain Jack Harkness – don't trust your boss._

Ianto stared in horror at the sentence he had just read and had to re-read it just in case he had read it wrong. Anger returned to Ianto but this time he wasn't angry with Aaron – he was angry with Jack. Ianto jumped to his feet and ran out of the room, running down the corridor towards the main room where he'd hope Jack would be. Ianto stopped at the top of the stairs which led down to the main room pretty much like the ones back in Torchwood Cardiff. It didn't take Ianto long to find Jack - he was sat round the computer screen with Tom, pretty much ignoring Aaron. Ianto stood at the top of the stairs and watched for a minute before making his presence known. "Jack!" He bellowed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Be warned there are large spoilers for 'Fragments' in this chapter. Please read and review!**

Everyone in the main room turned to stare at Ianto who was now running down the stairs, his eyes were blazing and everyone knew he was heading for Jack. Tom had stood up and moved away from the computer he and Jack had been sitting at to make sure Ianto wouldn't lash out at him when he was aiming for Jack. Jack stood up slowly and looked around the team as if asking any of them if they knew what was going on. His gaze stopped on Aaron who shook his head and shrugged. Jack turned back to Ianto just in time to be pushed against the workstation behind him. "Careful Ianto that equipment costs…" Tom trailed off as Ianto turned to glare at him.

"What's the matter Ianto?" Jack asked calmly, causing Ianto to stare at him in shock. He had pushed Jack against a desk and Jack was still managing to stay calm. Ianto managed to recover from the shock pretty quickly and remembered what he was doing.

"You told him to leave me," Ianto muttered just loud enough for Jack to hear. He didn't want the rest of the team to know much about his past. Ianto didn't like thinking about it himself and if the whole of the team knew about it he knew they'd constantly be bringing it up.

"You know about that?" Jack asked, struggling to turn and look towards Aaron in Ianto's grip.

"Yeah I…" Ianto looked up at Aaron who shook his head. Ianto didn't know why but Aaron didn't want Jack to know he had told him the truth. Ianto had to think fast. He needed to tell Jack how he knew about what Jack had done. Ianto suddenly remembered Aaron's scrawled writing on the back of the envelope which had been written in a hast meaning Jack must have told him not to tell Ianto which hopefully meant the whole situation had been captured on CCTV. Ianto turned back to Jack. "I checked the CCTV. You and…" Ianto paused again, he wasn't used to saying the word 'dad' so decided to call Aaron by his first name. "Aaron were taking longer than you should have so I checked the CCTV to see where you were."

"There's CCTV in the SUV?" Jack asked in a surprised tone. Ianto froze – Jack had confronted Aaron in the CCTV.

"Yeah," Ianto replied slowly. "I installed it recently." Ianto paused again. "Actually." Ianto suddenly realised he was being led off track and jumped back on topic. "You forced him to leave me."

"Ianto, you've got to understand," Ianto could just make out a tone of panic in Jack's voice. "It was either him leaving you or you getting injured. I saved you and your sister. I really didn't want to do it. I wanted to help your whole family get away but they would have sent someone else. They would have found you all and they would have hurt all of you. You may all have died. Not just your mother."

"How do you know she died?" Ianto questioned though he began to loosen his grip on Jack.

"He was there," Ianto jumped as Aaron's quiet voice sounded out from behind him. All sorts of visions began to appear in Ianto's mind.

"You killed her?" Ianto asked Jack.

"No, no," Jack shook his head. "I tried to stop them. I helped Aaron and you mother escape. I had realised that I could find somewhere for the whole family to live together but then your mother was shot and Aaron ran off. I tried to find him again but I couldn't." There was a pause as Ianto had run out of questions to ask. Ianto stood up and let go of Jack who quickly stood up. The rest of the team where staring at them, unsure what had happened because none of them had heard more than a word or two of the quiet conversation. "Now do you see why it took so much for me to hire you?"

_Jack felt the Weevil push him against the tree and grunted. The Weevils were beginning to get harder and harder to catch. They seemed to be getting better at fighting and they were becoming stronger. Jack pushed himself off the tree and span round past the Weevil and pushing it against the tree he had just been pushed against himself. Jack was beginning to get tired now. They had been doing the same thing for the past ten minutes. Jack pulled out the Weevil spray but before he could use it against the Weevil, it was slashing out at him and had knocked the spray out of Jack's hand. The two fell into a wrestle and began to try and Jack ended up on the floor with the Weevil on top of him. He began to wonder if the Weevils had schools down in the sewers and if they were teaching each other how to fight. He would have laughed at the ridiculous thought if a Weevil hadn't have been on top of him. Instead he pushed the Weevil over so he was now on top of it and few a few punches at it. Just as Jack thought he had the upper hand he was back underneath the Weevil. This time he wasn't thinking about Weevil schools in the sewers but instead the thought of dying again sprang to mind as the Weevil went for his neck. He began to scream as pain travelled through his body, trying to push the Weevil off him but it was no use._

_Suddenly the Weevil's weight had left him. Jack had frowned. It was unusual for a Weevil to give up its attacking without making sure the victim was definitely dead. Then Jack saw a young man with a stick attacking the Weevil. Jack thought he recognized the man at first but couldn't picture his name. He quickly shook the thought away and picked up the Weevil spray he had dropped earlier as the man wrestled with the Weevil just as Jack and the Weevil had done so before. _

_Jack jumped to his feet and pushed the weevil away from the man and onto the floor. Before he could end up on the floor again, Jack began to spray the Weevil and he put a bag over its head just as it began to fall asleep. He then got up and turned back to the mystery man he recognized who quickly thanked him. As Jack returned the thanks, he still couldn't remember how he knew the man in front of him. He tried asking the man his name but even when he knew the name (Ianto Jones), he recognized the name but still had no idea how. Jack even tried saying his name to see if Ianto recognized him but that didn't seem to work either. Instead Ianto correctly named the creature he had helped Jack contain. _

_It wasn't until Jack checked up this Ianto Jones on the Torchwood database that he suddenly realised who the young man was and stared in horror at the computer screen. The man had been left in the middle of nowhere after going camping with his dad at the age of nine. Exactly as Jack had previously told someone to do – Ianto Jones was the child who Jack had taken parents away from._

_The next day Jack was met once again by this Ianto Jones. At first he worried that the Retcon Ianto had been given as a child was wearing off but it turned out Ianto just wanted a job. Jack had immediately refused although Ianto was right when he said he had the right qualifications for the job. Normally Jack would have hired him as soon as he had asked but he didn't want ghosts from the past working with him. Everyone in his team knew he hid from the past, even if they didn't know what he was hiding. _

_Ianto had continued to ambush Jack and Jack had continued to leave Ianto standing alone watching after him with no job. One night he decided to do some research and realised that Ianto had been working on the floor below his father for years in Torchwood London and if his father had wanted to make contact he would have done so. _

_Then one night, after a run in with Ianto, a Pterodactyl and a bar of dark chocolate Jack gave Ianto the job. At first Jack had kept his distance from Ianto in case the young man ever found out the truth behind his father abandoning him though Jack soon realised the Ianto didn't like thinking about his past which made it safer for Jack to talk to him. _

_Now after 21 months they had been as close as ever but Aaron's sudden reappearance was becoming close to ruining their complicated relationship._


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay, I'm sorry for not posting recently but I've been busy with school options and tests. Anyway, here's the next chapter.**

Ianto walked towards the nearest door, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he walked. "Where are you going?" Ianto glanced over his shoulder when he heard Jack call and sighed, did he have to know exactly where he was going.

"To call Rhiannon," Ianto glanced at Aaron before continuing. "She needs to know." As Ianto turned he caught a worried look on Jack's face. It wasn't there for long but Ianto saw it and quickly added. "That I know where Aaron is." Ianto hurried out of the door before anyone bombarded him with any more questions.

Once outside the door Ianto continued to walk. It had been a while since he had last spoken to his sister and the last time he was interrupted as a couple of Weevils had found their way to this surface. This time Ianto was determined not to be interrupted so he locked himself inside a room before making the call. As Ianto waited for Rhiannon to answer he tried to think about how he was going to explain where he had found Aaron. He couldn't exactly say he had found him in a secret base under the River Thames. "What do you want?" Rhiannon's voice cut Ianto out of his thoughts.

"Who says I want anything?" Ianto asked almost too quickly.

"You hardly ever phone and when you do you're asking for something," Rhiannon explained.

"Okay, that's true but I don't want anything this time," Ianto admitted. There was a pause as Ianto still hadn't completely decided on what he was going to say. "How are David and Mica?" Ianto quickly asked the question when he heard the noise of children laughing in the background.

"They're fine," Rhiannon replied in a suspicious tone and Ianto decided it would probably be easier if he just told her the real reason for him calling her.

"I'm in London," Ianto began.

"London? What are you doing in London?" Rhiannon exclaimed before Ianto could even finish his first sentence.

"Working," Ianto answered.

"Of course," Ianto heard Rhiannon mutter.

Ianto had planned most of a speech since he had first met Aaron. He had known he would have to tell Rhiannon at one point but instead of using loads of words to explain he used three very simple words. "I've found dad." There was a very long pause and Ianto wasn't sure if Rhiannon was still holding the phone.

"What?" The reply was only just audible and barely a whisper.

"I've found dad," Ianto replied. "He's working in London."

"Have you spoken to him?" Rhiannon asked.

"Yes," Ianto answered, knowing Rhiannon would now continue to ask him questions.

"Does he know who you are?" Rhiannon questioned.

"Yes," Ianto replied.

"Did he say anything about what he did?" Rhiannon continued to ask questions. Ianto knew this one was coming and had prepared his answer before he had called.

"He's really sorry about that," Ianto explained. "He didn't want to leave us but he did it to help us. He borrowed money to pay for the holiday we had abroad and loan sharks were after him because he didn't pay back the money."

"And you've forgiven him?" Rhiannon asked. Ianto couldn't tell if Rhiannon would be happy or annoyed if he was honest but decided to tell her the truth anyway.

"Yes," Ianto repeated the same word once again.

"Really?" Ianto could hear a tone of doubt in Rhiannon's voice.

"He's truly sorry," Ianto tried to persuade her. "How about I bring him round to your house one day when we get back from London?"

"We?" Rhiannon repeated. "Isn't he living in London?"

"Well, yeah but I'm sure he'd be happy to come over to Cardiff to see you," there was no reply from Rhiannon and Ianto began to worry. "You do want to see him don't you?"

"I don't know," Rhiannon sighed. "This is all a bit sudden."

"You're coping with it better than me," Ianto admitted with a small laugh. "I turned up to the building and he was stood there. I ran off before he could see me." Ianto heard Rhiannon laugh and she seemed to relax.

"Fine," she finally agreed. "I'll meet him but give me some notice before you turn up. I want to send the kids down to the park with Johnny this first time."

"I'll try to get down for tomorrow," Ianto promised.

"That'll be good," Rhiannon agreed. "I've got to go now Ianto."

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow hopefully!" Ianto smiled at the thought of taking Aaron to see Rhiannon. "Say hello to the kids for me. Bye." Ianto looked at his phone for two seconds then disconnected the line.

-TW-

Jack looked up from the computer screen when he heard the door open. Ianto ran in through the door with a smile on his face and Jack had to admit he felt disheartened when Ianto went straight to Aaron and the two began to whisper about something. When Jack saw Ianto look towards him he quickly turned his attention back to the computer screen and was surprised when Ianto stopped beside him. "I got a call from Tosh saying she needed help with Weevils. I'm going to go back to Cardiff to help her out." Jack looked up at Ianto.

"Okay, that's fine," Jack shrugged. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, I'm alright, thanks sir," Ianto smiled and gestured over to Aaron who was talking to Tom. "Aaron's agreed to come with me." Jack felt his jaw fall down in surprise and quickly shut his mouth before Ianto could see him.

"I… I'm glad you're getting on so well," Jack stammered and put on a fake smile. Ianto smiled back but disappeared soon after that with his bag heading back towards Cardiff.

-TW-

Ianto smiled as he jumped into Aaron's car. He had phoned Tosh and told her he wanted Aaron to meet Rhiannon and she had agreed to pretend to Jack that Ianto and Aaron were helping her with Weevils. This meant that until Jack and the rest of the team left London he and Aaron could spend most of their time with Rhiannon and Ianto would be able to spend time with David and Mica.

-TW-

Tom, Alis, Jack, Owen and Gwen sat in the conference room of Torchwood London. "It seems as if the signal in the school had disappeared while we've had our day of action," Owen explained, staring straight at Jack. "It seems like the aliens have flew back off to their home planet."

"No," Jack disagreed and quickly got to his feet and began pacing. "Something about this doesn't make sense. It's all been too coincidental." Jack stopped pacing now and turned to survey the people sitting before him. "We were called to Torchwood London which happened to be where Aaron was working. The signal was coming from a school and Torchwood London happened to need someone to go undercover. We all quickly turned to Ianto. Ianto went undercover and just so happens to meet Aaron. We come back here and ponder about the situation and the signal happens to disappear."

"Are you saying someone set this all up?" Gwen asked. In reply Jack nodded and turned sharply to Owen.

"What are you looking at me for?" Owen questioned.

"You were the one who persuaded us to come here," Jack pointed out. "You were the one who put the Torchwood London team together and when you met Ianto you recognized the surname. It wasn't until recently you realised where you had seen the surname before but because it was a common surname you needed someone to help you. This is where Tom comes in." Jack turned to Tom and looked relieved when Owen didn't deny what he had said.

"Owen told you what he suspected and you agreed with him," Jack turned to the computer on the side and pulled up Owen's emails.

"How did you do that?" Owen exclaimed.

"Your password is too obvious," Jack shrugged before turning back to Tom. "This is the email you sent him containing Aaron's file and personal information. You then told Alis this theory and together you both came up with a plan to draw Torchwood Cardiff in but you didn't know how to create the signal and Owen didn't know how to access Ianto's personal information which is where Tosh comes in. She created the signal for you and sent this email…" Jack now brought up a new email on Owen's account from Tosh. "Containing all his personal details and then Gwen comes in with her connections with the police to find out more about Ianto and Aaron Jones." Once again Jack looked relieved when no one denied or corrected his suspicions. "You wanted to create a perfect reunion that you forgot to think about why Aaron and Ianto weren't communicating with each other."

"It paid off in the end though," Owen pointed out. "They've gone back to Cardiff together."

"That's not what I'm bothered about," Jack snapped. "You went through their personal information."

"Isn't that what it's there for?" Owen shrugged.

"No, the personal information is for if something serious happens to them not for creating a happily ever after," Jack sighed before leaving the room.

"That went better than I expected," Owen smirked and frowned when everyone stared at him. "You didn't think he wouldn't find out about this did you?"


End file.
